Flip Side
by Hypo Prower
Summary: Everyone celebrates Sonic's 18th birthday. Some people acknowledge Dr. Eggman's birthday. But what about Shadow? See what happens on the flip side of the spectrum. Chapter 10 has been fixed!
1. The Celebration Begins

"Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm not joking! Knuckles got his fist stuck in between a table!"

"That idiot! What was he even doing at the conference center anyway?"

"I dunno…he said he was training. Or something…anyway, I can't pull him out. I need you!"

Sonic and Tails were standing on a street at Station Square. Sonic had just gotten back from his daily run, and Tails had rushed up to him as quickly as he returned. The fox explained his situation to Sonic.

Sonic face-palmed. "I absolutely cannot believe that idiot got his hand stuck…in a table." Tails shrugged.

"He was hitting a punching bag, and he over did it and stumbled forward. Then his giant fist got stuck in the crack of the table." Sonic rolled his eyes and started quickly towards the conference center, where Knuckles was apparently stuck.

"C'mon, Tails," the blue hedgehog called. "Bring the camera too…this'll be a good memory."

Tails snickered as he pulled a camera out of his pocket. "Oh, don't worry…this'll be a VERY good memory," he laughed evilly and hurried off after his friend.

***

Sonic arrived at the conference center after a few moments with Tails close behind with a camera clutched in his hands. The hedgehog sighed and banged on the door. "Hey Knuckles, ya in there?"

After a silence, Knuckles' voice was heard: "Yeah I'm here! Help me out, I'm stuck!"

"Stupid," Sonic muttered as he pulled open the door. Tails giggled and held the camera at the ready.

The hedgehog fumbled for the light switch before the room lit up and he was met with a hoard of his friends around a giant table filled with cake, food and presents. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they all yelled.

Sonic's face immediately fell into shock, and Tails dashed around and snapped a picture of his face. The picture spit out of the camera and Tails grabbed it, waiting for it to develop.

"That's a keeper," he commented with a smile.

Everyone started talking at once as they ran over to greet Sonic. The hedgehog smirked as he looked around. "Ah, you guys!" he said playfully. "You remembered my eighteenth birthday!"

"Well of course!" Amy said in agreement, shoving her way through to crowd to grab Sonic's hand. The pink hedgehog winked. "Why would we forget?"

Tails and Knuckles soon followed Amy's lead and crowded around their friend. Sonic grinned and gave Tails a noogie. "I bet you planned the whole thing, didn't ya big guy?!" he said harshly. Tails laughed and tried squirming out of Sonic's grasp.

"Well, not the whole thing!" he admitted. Sonic let him go, and he shoved Knuckles forward. "It was Knuckles that thought of the whole 'fist getting stuck' idea."

"Oh, yeah," Sonic said sarcastically, giving Knuckles a fist pound. "I forgot about that. Way to go, genius."

Knuckles blushed and glared at Sonic angrily. "Shut up!" he demanded out of embarrassment. Everyone else laughed, but the happy time was broken whenever Amy grabbed Sonic's arm and started dragging him towards the table.

"C'mon, everyone!" she called. "It's cake time!" Sonic smiled widely whenever he saw the enormous cake that lay out on the table. It would have EASILY fed 100 people, and even those 100 could go back for seconds.

Sonic leaned on the table as the crowd followed him. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, looking at the giant cake. On the surface was a model that had Sonic standing next to a loop de loop. The cake went down in layers, each layer having some sort of creative green path. There were candy rings scattered everywhere, and little badniks rested on the different layers.

"This reminds e of the old days," Sonic admitted, standing back to look at it from a different angle.

Tails patted Sonic on the back. "That's what we were aiming for."

"Well, you certainly achieved it," the blue hedgehog replied with approval.

Suddenly, Charmy Bee, who was present at the party with the rest of the Chaotix, couldn't take it anymore. "Well, come on, what're we waitin' for?!" he demanded. "Blow out the candles so we can eat!"

Everyone laughed, and Sonic noticed for the first time that there were 18 candles set atop the cake. They had not been lit too long ago, but they were starting to wear down regardless.

"Don't forget to make a wish, Mr. Sonic!" Cream's tiny voice squeaked throughout the room. Sonic stepped forward and racked his brain for something he could wish for.

But what was something else that he could want? He was in a huge room, about to eat a giant cake made in his image, beside him was a table over flowing with gifts, and best of all, he had all his friends around him.

However, he had noticed that one person was absent. Sonic spun around to face all the anxious faces and called out, "Where's Shadow?"

There was a murmur that spread throughout the crowd, and Tails exchanged a few words with Rouge, who was the closest one to Shadow. Tails nodded and spun around with a worried expression to his friend.

"He was on the guest list," the fox affirmed. "But Rouge said that Shadow was supposed to meet her but never showed up."

Sonic sighed slowly and turned back towards the cake to see the dwindling candles. Without another word, one thought flew through his mind.

_I wish Shad would show up before the party's over._

The blue hedgehog blew out all 18 candles in one go. A thin string of smoke spread up towards the ceiling. Sonic watched it float solemnly up as everyone else cheered and got in line to get a piece of cake.

_C'mon, Shadow, _Sonic pleaded in his mind. _Where are you?!_

*************************************************************

Darkness hung around the many buildings that made up Eggmanland. Sure, Eggman couldn't conquer the world just yet, but he still had a large area in the middle of the ocean that he called home.

It had only made sense that the entire island was mechanical. Dr. Eggman couldn't bear to set foot on regular EARTH. It might get his stylish black boots dirty.

These smug thoughts ran through Shadows head as he ducked behind a building on Eggmanland. The black hedgehog scanned the horizon with his red gaze before he deduced that there were no robots in the immediate area.

Shadow wordlessly darted out from behind the building in his trademark skating shoes before he heard alarms all around him. He clenched his teeth together in anger and looked around slowly at the barrage of robots that had suddenly gathered around him.

Meanwhile, in the main building on Eggmanland, Dr. Eggman himself was watching Shadow intently on the monitor. He jabbed at Shadow on the screen and yelled as if the robots could hear him. "Him! Shadow!" he chanted. "Destroy Shadow!"

After the screen went totally red from the fire of lasers, Eggman leaned back in his chair, a bit more relaxed. "I wonder what that other troublesome hedgehog is up to…" he muttered. "Especially today."

The screen suddenly went fuzzy from the loss of signal, which caused Eggman to panic. He was about to scream in outrage when suddenly the door behind him opened, revealing Shadow.

The doctor swiveled around in his chair and glared at the hedgehog. "Impressive," he admitted, stroking his mustache. "What do you want?"

Shadow strode forward and grabbed Eggman's collar, jerking him forward near his face. "I want answers, doctor," he spat. "I want to know everything. I want Dr. Gerald's reports." The hedgehog was inches away from Eggman's huge nose. "And I think you might have an idea of the consequences if you fail to comply."

Eggman struggled out of Shadow's grasp and leaned back in his chair, a smug smile planted under his mustache. "Oh come on, Shadow," he said in a fake caring voice. "No need to get violent…especially on a day like today."

"I wasn't aware we were celebrating a holiday," Shadow replied, crossing his arms. An amused smirk came on his face. "What's the occasion?"

"Don't you know?" Eggman inquired. "It's my birthday."

"Oh, I see," Shadow nodded, closing his eyes. "How old are you now…88? 89?"

Eggman's face turned red with anger. "No jokes today, Shadow!" he demanded. "Because in case you hadn't realized, it's Sonic's birthday too."

Shadow opened his eyes and rolled his red irises. "Oh yeah, that blue hedgehog…" he trailed off, remembering the invitation he had received. "Who cares about him? There's no point."

There was silence for a minute as Eggman tried to figure out WHY Shadow didn't care. Then he remembered that he didn't know anything about his past; that was the whole point of coming to Eggmanland today.

"It's not only his birthday," Eggman grinned. "It's also yours."

Shadow's pupils dilated. He gaped at Eggman in disbelief. "No way…!" he choked out. "Why would my birthday be the same day as yours and Sonic's?!"

"We don't pick when we are born," Eggman explained in a cheeky voice. Suddenly, Shadow was angry again. He practically jumped onto the doctor's lap and glared at him, eye to eye.

"You better give me those reports," he warned. "Or else you will cease to have any more birthdays."

Eggman gulped slightly, knowing Shadow was serious. "OK, OK," he chuckled, pushing the hedgehog off. "Come with me. The reports are on the third floor."

Shadow huffed and crossed his arms. "Gladly."

The two walked into the elevator, and the door closed slowly in front of them.

* * *

**A/N: Oooh. How late am I? More than a week? Yeah, I thought so. I wanted to write this because I figured I should at least do SOMETHING for Sonic's 18th birthday. How long will it go on? No idea. But here it is...Flip Side.**

**I'll update whenever possible.**


	2. Betrayal and Despair

**A/N: I'll be busy tomorrow, seeing how it's the fourth of July, so I'm going to go ahead and upload this now. Sorry it's significantly shorter, but there wasn't a whole lot I could do right now without having some time to think this through. I just wanted to get this one out of the gate as quickly as possible.**

**Plus, it's kind of nice to have it hang on the front page for a while :) .**

**Seeing as how I've failed to do this before, here goes: I don't own Sonic. Duh.**

* * *

Shadow crossed his arms and closed his eyes, leaning against the wall in the elevator. Eggman stood beside him, feeling rather tense. "You know, your visit today surprised me," he explained. "I thought that you would have attended that other rodent's birthday party."

"There are some things that you don't feel absolutely obligated to do," Shadow explained calmly without opening his eyes. "Attending Sonic's birthday party is one of those things."

Eggman studied the black hedgehog warily under his dark sunglasses. _Shadow never acts this calm and carefree, _he thought. _He's putting on an act. He knows to get what he wants, he can't attack me. He's…he's actually NERVOUS!_

Shadow opened one eye to look at the chubby doctor. "Is there something troubling you, or are my spines so glamorous today that you can't stop gawking at them?"

"Nothing's the matter," Eggman said swiftly, jerking his head in the other direction.

The rest of the ride was silent, and when the elevator finally dinged to announce the arrival to the third floor, Shadow and Eggman walked out.

The third floor was much smaller than Shadow had imagined. There were no giant computers that were ready to receive data inputs; no flashy metallic designs or robot guards. One of the sole items in the room lie in the center: a filing cabinet that was carefully locked.

"Professor Gerald's reports and diary entries are in here?" Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow.

However, there was no response from Eggman.

Shadow spun around and clenched his teeth as the elevator doors closed, holding Dr. Eggman. The scientist grinned evilly and pressed a button on his remote right before the doors to the elevator completely closed.

The file cabinet started to shake violently. Shadow gasped and studied it with his ruby gaze. Suddenly, a pair of mechanical arms and legs burst out of the cabinet, and then the cabinet itself busted, revealing a spherical-shaded robot.

"I should've known," Shadow muttered to himself through clenched teeth.

The robot extended its giant arm and tried to pound the black hedgehog, but he was too quick for it. He leapt up and spun into a ball before launching himself at the center.

_All of Eggman's robots are the same! _Shadow thought smugly. _You just need to hit the center a few times, and they'll blow up!_

The robot had other plans, however. It brought up a shield to protect itself from Shadow's assault. He fell back to the ground on his feet and crossed his arms. "A shield? Come on, is that all you got?"

Shadow bent his knees and was about to attempt to knock the shield out of the robot's hand when suddenly a green substance began to seep throughout the room. "What the…?!" he exclaimed, and held his nose, trying to avoid breathing in the green gas.

The robot seemed to laugh as he staggered forward, intent on stomping Shadow to the ground. He saw this coming and dashed out of the way. Then he leapt up and kicked the robot's head, knocking him forward.

This drained the oxygen from his system, however. _I need to breathe!_ He thought desperately. Thinking fast, Shadow ran towards the elevator and punched in the button. The small container wasn't much, and it would fill quickly with the gas, but it would at least provide a breath of fresh air.

In the mean time, the robot hadn't gotten up from Shadow kicking it forward. He assumed he had knocked something loose, and decided to ignore it.

After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator arrived. Shadow dashed in and held the door shut behind him, gasping in fresh air. If he could keep the door shut, then he could get to another part of the building and escape the poison gas…

Shadow's gaze flew to the door as he heard rumbling. "Oh, sweet Maria," he muttered to himself as his pupils dilated it. He pressed a floor number on the elevator and prayed with everything that he had that the elevator would escape before the robot could destroy it…

************************************************************

"Is something the matter, Sonic?"

Amy sat down next to Sonic at the table he was sitting at. The blue hedgehog rested his palm on his chin and sighed.

"Nah…just wondering where Shadow could be."

Amy smiled kindly. "Shadow's got a mysterious past and everything…there's no telling where he could be."

Sonic smirked at his friend. "Yeah, but I mean…he couldn't take ONE day out of his oh-so-busy schedule to come and say 'hey' to all of us?"

The two hedgehogs watched everyone chat and eat cake out on the floor. "No offense, but this doesn't seem like Shadow's kind of party," Amy pointed out. Sonic chuckled.

"The only kind of party he'd go is a Halloween party," the hero laughed. "And he wouldn't even need to dress up! He'd scare everyone anyway!"

The two of them laughed, but Sonic couldn't help but go back to his original thought.

_Shadow…where could you be?_

* * *

**Where could Shadow be indeed...? Find out next chapter, which will be up after the holiday! Also, please review (if you think it's bad or something...or good, that works too).**


	3. Pain

**So, how was everyone's fourth of July? Mine was...meh. But anyway, here's chapter 3.**

* * *

Shadow couldn't breathe easy until he was sure that the elevator was going up. Once the rumbling inside the room was distant enough, he sighed with relief.

_Oh dear Maria…at least none of that gas got in the elevator._

The elevator steadily lifted upwards, and Shadow curiously looked at what room number he had hit whenever he had punched the button in his haste to escape. The button that was lit up was the top floor, which was Eggman's room.

Shadow smirked wickedly. Oh, would he have a few things to tell the doctor.

Suddenly, the elevator jerked to a halt, knocking him off his feet. The hedgehog groaned as his head hit the floor. He looked up and blinked when the lights had suddenly blinked out.

Oh great. That could only mean that _someone _had cut the power.

*****

Eggman groaned as he stared out at his tiny little empire. Every building on the island was gradually going dark. Cutting the power was such a pain to do, because it took at LEAST 15 minutes to get everything operating correctly again.

However, cutting the power was absolutely necessary. Because that arrogant, black emo-of-a-hedgehog somehow escaped that poisonous room.

The evil scientist slumped back into his chair, deep in thought. Shadow was here because he wanted answers; he didn't want a fight. The only thing he sought was his grandfather's reports.

However, after reviewing them himself, Eggman had already come to the conclusion that absolutely no one could see them. Especially Shadow.

Otherwise, chaos would most definitely ensue.

****************************************************************************

Sonic smirked and shook Tails' hand. "Thanks for everything today, bro," he smiled. Tails grinned back and nodded.

"Hey, it was no problem," the fox replied. "I mean, it's your eighteenth birthday. It's supposed to be special."

"Oh, it was indeed special," Knuckles teased, causing the two to spin around in surprise at the echidna who had just appeared. Sonic blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut up," he said playfully.

Tails smirked and crossed his arms. "You know, I never knew Amy could kiss like that."

"I said shut up!" Sonic snapped at the two, who were busy laughing and fist-pounding to notice. Knuckles snorted and rolled his eyes at the blue hedgehog.

"Well, I better get going," he said. Tails blinked and exchanged a confused glance with Sonic.

"Where are you going?" the hero asked.

Knuckles sighed and looked thoughtfully out into space. "I need to get back to Angel Island. I got a call from Espio, and he thinks that something's up with Eggman."

"Eggman?" Tails repeated.

"Yes, Eggman," Knuckles said. "You know how Angel Island floats near Eggmanland, that little island that he camps out in? Well Espio called me about half an hour ago and said that the entire place just went completely dark. He doesn't know if it was a power surge or what, but he wants to check it out."

Sonic smirked and pulled his glove on a little tighter. "Sounds like fun," he remarked, a little spark flashing in his eyes.

Tails studied his hero a moment in disbelief. "You aren't really planning on going after him today, are you?" he demanded. "It's your birthday! Take the day off."

"Eggman isn't taking the day off today, Tails," Sonic explained. "And if he's still kickin', then so are we!"

Knuckles started walking off in the other direction. "Hate to burst your bubble, but this is probably nothing. It'd be a waste of time."

Sonic caught up with his rival. "Aw, that's a little harsh, Knucklehead. Maybe I just want to pay Egghead a little visit just to say 'hey'."

"H-hey," Tails called sheepishly after the two, running to catch up with them. "Don't leave me here all alone! We're a team!"

*******************************************************************

Darkness was not an unfamiliar place for Shadow to be. He had stayed in darkness for 50 years in a capsule before Dr. Eggman had set him free. This darkness in the elevator was no problem for him.

Except for the fact that his arm had suddenly launched into extreme pain.

"What…what is this?!"

Shadow clutched his black striped arm and clenched his teeth from the pain. The pain had started just shortly after the power had shut off in the elevator. It wasn't a pain that you would maybe receive after you had eaten 30 pounds of cheese; no, this pain was a burning, searing pain that seemed to get worse as each second ticked by.

"Augh!" Shadow cried, then stopped himself as he studied his arm through squinted eyes. Normally he would be able to do so, since he was trapped in complete darkness in the elevator. However, his arm seemed to be glowing with a green aura.

The black hedgehog bit his tongue as the pain spiked. "Th-this isn't normal," he told himself in a tight voice. "It's…c-chaos energy…!"

Suddenly, the whole elevator began to light up with the bright green light. Shadow gasped lightly before giving off an excruciating scream. Even Eggman, who was seven floors up, wondered what in the world that loud noise was.

Slowly but surely, the pain began to ebb. Shadow had desperately tried to knock himself into unconsciousness so he wouldn't feel anything anymore. He stopped, though, as his arm got just a little bit dimmer and the pain began to wear off.

After 10 minutes of suffering, Shadow blinked in surprise as the pain had completely passed. He studied his arm, and much to his horror, he found that it wasn't an arm anymore.

Instead of a normal arm, which had a hand and an elbow, the black hedgehog now had a slimy, liquefied green arm. It was glowing an eerie green, and Shadow could identify that it was, without a doubt, chaos energy. So why on Mobius has his arm suddenly morphed?

"Was it…the gas…?" Shadow wondered aloud, thinking back to the room with the poison gas. Well, whatever the cause, he was now stuck with a giant, green floppy arm. He tried moving it, and found that he could move it just as normal. Curious, Shadow took off his shoe and tried picking it up with his new appendage.

Interestingly enough, he could pick up the shoe, but in a different way. The nub of his arm wrapped itself around the object and trapped it in its liquid center.

Shadow sighed a slumped down, putting his shoe back on. _What am I going to do?_ He thought. _What on earth has that stupid doctor done to me?!_

* * *

**Bonus points to anyone who thinks they have an idea about what Shadow's arm is! Cuz it's kind of hard to write down exactly what I'm talking about...**


	4. Scoping out the Base

**A/N: This story is moving right along very smoothly. Thanks again for everybody who is reading and reviewing...it means a lot.**

* * *

Espio, Knuckles, Sonic and Tails knelt down by a building on Eggmanland. The four heroes were hiding, making sure that they weren't going to get attacked by some surprise robot. This seemed unlikely, however, as the entire place was pitch black.

"Whatcha think we should do, Knux?" Sonic asked, his eyes glistening excitedly. Knuckles turned to Espio expectantly, wordlessly asking him the same question.

"We do nothing," the ninja replied, getting up from his crouch.

The other three stood up as well. Sonic crossed his arms. "That doesn't sound very exciting," he snorted. The red echidna glared at his rival.

"That's what I told you before we left, idiot," he scolded.

Tails smiled nervously and placed himself in between the two. "Hey, guys, let's keep it cool," he warned, chuckling.

Sonic sighed and looked up at the giant tower that lay in the center of Eggmanland. "That's where Eggman stays, isn't it?" he asked. Espio's gaze met the tower as well.

"Yeah, that's it," the chameleon reassured.

Sonic smirked and suddenly started to walk towards it. Tails curiously started after him, a hand outreached. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked, puzzled. The hero looked over his shoulder at the fox.

"I'm going up there to see what Eggman's up to."

Knuckles gritted his sharp teeth together. "You idiot! We aren't going up there so you can smart off to Eggman and start some sort of war!"

"I never said 'we'," Sonic corrected with his trademark grin. "I said 'I'. I'm just gonna drop the doc a visit and see what's up."

Espio sighed. "There's really no point in telling you that's dangerous, because you're going to do it anyway, correct?"

The hedgehog nodded at the Chaotix detective. "You got it," he said with a wink, and turned and started back towards Eggman's tower.

The three watched him go. Tails put on an uneasy expression. "I'm going with him," he told the other two. They didn't seem to pay any mind as the kitsune caught up with his friend.

"Might as well head back to Angel Island," Knuckles said with a sigh. Espio wordlessly agreed, and the two turned around and began walking in the other direction.

******************************

"This whole process is troublesome…" Eggman muttered to himself as he pressed a few buttons on his control panel. Slowly, his room lit up as the power began to surge back on.

The chubby doctor stood up and walked over to the window that was located in his room and gazed out into the rest of the island. He racked his brain as he thought about what he could do with Shadow.

_It's obvious he isn't going to give up…_ he thought. _And the little pest is going to find out what's going on eventually…I just hope that the transformation hasn't started yet…_

Suddenly, Eggman sputtered as he picked out two objects traveling across the island at a quick pace. "Don't tell me those two little rodents have decided to visit me today," he said aloud in disbelief. "Those fools! They're just going to get destroyed!"

Out of pure instinct, the scientist poised his fingers over the weapon's panel, thinking about which attack to unload on the hedgehog and fox. Then he lowered his hand as he thought a little harder and realized that maybe attacking them wouldn't be the best method.

_No, I'll let those little idiots into the base, _he thought with a wicked grin. _It will be much easier to aim indoors!_

**********

"Honey, we're home!" Sonic burst into the front door of the building with a loud arrival, as per usual. Tails, who followed closely behind, studied the bottom floor of the tower with curiosity.

"Sonic, I think the lights are coming back on," he said. The hedgehog followed Tails' sapphire gaze to the small light that was located on the ceiling. Slowly but surely it began to blink on.

Sonic snorted and crossed his arms. "Good thing. All this darkness was starting to hurt my eyes." The blue blur closed his eyes. "I dunno how Shadow stood it for 50 years trapped in that little container."

The thought of the black and red hedgehog launched Sonic into deep thought.

_Oh, Shadow, _he remembered with a start. _That's right…he never showed up. Maybe he's somewhere in here…?_

Suddenly, a loud sound was heard as the elevator began to move again after the power had been shut off. Sonic strolled over to the elevator and studied the buttons, wondering which floor Eggman would be on.

Tails joined him and cocked his head. "It would only make sense if Eggman was on the top floor," the fox deduced.

"Yeah, so he can see the entire city and know when trespassers enter," Sonic agreed, rolling his eyes and punching the button to go to the top floor. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Doc Egghead already knew we were in here."

The twin-tailed fox gulped. "Uh oh. What do you think he'll do to us?"

The hedgehog tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the elevator. "Eh, probably the usual. Scream something about us being rodents and try to squash us with some uber big robot."

As the two friends waited for the elevator, they had no idea what was occurring just as the container had reached the top floor.

* * *

**Uh oh! What's going to happen between Shadow and Eggman?? If you review you'll find out sooner :p**


	5. Not Completely Doomed

**A/N: OK guys, bad news: I'm going to camp next week. Which means no updates until at least Saturday, if I even get a chapter done. Sorry...**

**I'll try to squeeze one more in before Monday, but no promises. If that is the case, see you next week!**

* * *

The door to the elevator slid open, and Eggman spun around in his chair. He winced as he waited for the outburst, or the attack, or anything to display Shadow's anger.

Instead, the elevator was completely empty.

Eggman gawked, flabbergasted. What in the world was going on? Where was Shadow?

Suddenly, the felt a figure behind him, choking him with his arm. "What the heck is the matter with me?!" Shadow demanded, his red eyes seemingly glowing with anger. The doctor tried to gulp, but the hedgehog's arm was cutting off his air way.

"W-whatever do you mean, Shadow?" he asked nervously. He had figured that the Ultimate Life Form would be irritated about trapping him in a room with a robot, not questioning what was wrong with him. Without another word, Shadow released his grip and slid out in front of Eggman.

His arm was glowing an eerie green color, and it left a trail of slimy liquid when he walked. "This is what I mean," he growled, pointing to his arm. The villain's breath caught in his throat as he inspected Shadow's defection.

_It's already begun, _he thought in horror. _Just like Chaos…_

"Answer me!" Shadow bellowed, throwing his hands into the air. Well, hand and tentacle.

Eggman sighed and clenched his forehead. "Your transformation process has already begun," he stuttered out.

Shadow lowered his arms and stared at his former ally with a curious gaze. "Transformation process?" he repeated, puzzled. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You…don't know Chaos, do you?" Eggman asked. The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes.

"Stop answering my questions with other questions!" he demanded. "For Maria's sake, of course I don't know who Chaos is! Just answer me: what transformation process are you talking about?!"

"The same transformation process that Chaos went through!" Eggman retorted. "The transformation process that occurred whenever he used too much chaos energy and his body became unable to sustain it any longer! The one where your bones and flesh will begin to melt into pure chaos energy in a liquefied form!"

There was dead silence for a moment. Shadow stared directly into Eggman's sunglasses with his mouth hanging open. The evil doctor clenched his teeth shut and lowered his head some.

"…that's what's happening to you," he explained softly. "I have no idea what to do about it."

Shadow's knees trembled and he fell to the floor, staring at his slimy arm. "Th-this is the arm I use to conduct Chaos Control," he said.

Eggman nodded. "It makes sense, then, that that's the arm that was transformed first."

"Oh Maria, help me," Shadow muttered, before shutting his eyes, trying to pretend the whole thing was a bad dream.

A very, very bad dream.

***

"Ugh, about time," Sonic said in an impatient voice, tapping his foot as the elevator finally reached the bottom floor. Tails curiously studied the silver door as the container opened up.

"What's that green slime all over the floor?" he asked, scratching his head. Sonic took a closer look, blinking in curiosity.

"Dunno, lil' bro," the hedgehog replied, scooping some up in his finger.

Tails walked up to Sonic's side and watched the slime drip off Sonic's finger, the exterior glistening in his eye. "Hey, you know what?" he asked. "That looks familiar."

Sonic shot Tails an interested glance. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." The twin-tailed fox bent down and poked at the puddle on the floor, observing the way it moved. "It…kind of looks like the stuff Chaos was made of, doesn't it?"

"Now that you mention it…" Sonic took one last look at the slime on his finger before flicking it away. "It does! Gross! It was on my finger."

"Grow up," Tails said, rolling his eyes. Then he stepped into the elevator with his friend close behind. "What floor should we go to?"

The blue blur studied the buttons a moment before shrugging casually and hitting the button that would carry them to the top floor. "Eh, might as well. Eggman would likely be on the top floor."

The elevator slowly shut, leaving only the hedgehog, the fox, and the green slime beneath their feet.

***

Confusion rippled through Eggman's room on the top floor as Sonic and Tails arrived from the elevator. Shadow was still in fetal position with his squishy green arm, Eggman looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown, and Sonic and Tails were tracking in a slimy green material from the elevator floor.

"What the heck?! What are you doing here?!" Everybody exclaimed at once, pointing fingers. It was soon followed by "Me?! What about you?!"

Sonic was the first to break up the sudden noisy conversation that followed. "EVERYBODY, CALM DOWN! HOW ABOUT WE JUST EXPLAIN EVERYTHING?!"

All eyes fell on the blue hedgehog, which was followed by a quick, " 'kay."

Everyone took a deep breath. "OK," Sonic started. "How about we start by finding out why Shadow has a slimy green costume on his arm?"

Eggman sighed wearily. "That's why he's here," he explained to Sonic and Tails. "Over the past few years that Shadow has been awakened, he has used lots of Chaos energy. Naturally, the control over the energy becomes stronger and stronger, but the normal body can't take it. Thus, the bones begin to liquefy and become pure chaos energy."

"So it WAS like Chaos," Tails said to himself thoughtfully, studying Shadow's appendage. The black hedgehog heaved and stood up.

"Now, why don't you explain to us why you're here, blue hedgehog," he said calmly.

Sonic smirked his shiny smile and pointed to his chest. "It's my birthday today, remember?" he asked. "And YOU were supposed to be at my party."

Shadow rolled his crimson eyes. "Oh yes, that little idiot fest you called a 'party'. I didn't come because I was too busy turning into a monster, deepest apologies."

"So what have you figured out about Shadow's arm so far, Eggman?" Tails asked, getting back on subject. The evil doctor shrugged.

"Not much," he admitted. "I suspect the degeneration of Shadow's body will continue over the next few days, although I can't say how quickly."

Sonic narrowed his green eyes and glared at his archenemy. "So you have no idea how long Shad has, or what we can do to fix him?"

"I may be a genius, but I can't produce answers to things that we know next to nothing about!" Eggman retorted, banging his gloved fist on his chair. "Don't blame me for this, hedgehog. I didn't do anything. I wouldn't do anything like this on my birthday!"

The blue hedgehog grinned cockily and crossed his arms. "Really, then? How old are you know…88, 8-"

"Already made that joke," Shadow interrupted, sitting back down on the ground. He found his new arm to be rather heavy.

Tails looked from Shadow's arm to the goopy slime that was still stuck to his shoe from the elevator. "OK then. First things first: we need to figure out what's wrong with Shadow."

Eggman nodded in agreement to the fox's words. "In the meantime, Sonic, take Shadow down to the fifth floor. That's my examining room. I'll be down in a minute to get all the data I'll need."

"Tails can help you with the tech stuff, Egghead," Sonic put in, ruffling Tails' head. The kitsune smirked.

"Yeah, fine, fine."

Shadow looked from Sonic, Tails and Eggman to his arm, which seemed to be getting longer every second.

_Maybe, perhaps, I'm not completely doomed after all…_


	6. Another One

**Hey guys, I'm back from camp...and just...wow. It was an amazing experience for me. **

**So anyway, thanks for being patient. Here is chapter 6. It's a little bit short...but I think I know where I'm going with the story now.**

* * *

Shadow rested himself on Eggman's examining table. He and Sonic had traveled down to the fifth floor on Eggman Tower, and the black hedgehog was currently seated, waiting.

Sonic, who was in the room as well, was studying the evil doctor's computers and monitors that were scattered around the room. "Must've taken Eggy a long time to make all this stuff," he muttered, half to himself. Shadow sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Dr. Eggman is a scientific genius. This was probably child's play compared to some of his other inventions."

The blue hedgehog shifted his emerald gaze back to his rival, who was looking somewhat distressed. He smiled and hopped up next to him on the seat. "Hey, don't worry about this, Shad," he said gently, putting his hand on Shadow's back. "Tails is smart as a whip, and, like you said, Eggman has some brains under his jelly rolls. They'll figure this out."

Shadow frowned and scooted away from Sonic's comforting hand. "You sound as if you have all the answers," he replied, dragging his goopy arm out in front of him.

Sonic got up from the table and was about to look at the computers some more when the elevator door suddenly opened. Eggman and Tails walked out, Tails wearing a lab coat, goggles and a pair of rubber gloves. The fox walked up next to Shadow.

"Whenever you're ready, Eggman," he said, expectantly looking at the villain. Eggman nodded and took some wires out from his pocket.

He handed them to Tails. "You might want to lie down, Shadow," he said before walking over to a monitor. Sonic stood back as Tails got to work right away, attaching the wires to Shadow's arm, his chest, his brain and his nose.

"We're going to use these to monitor your condition and study the difference in properties between your normal arm and your…deformed arm," Tails explained as he worked. Shadow nodded slightly.

Meanwhile, Sonic stood back, a little bit dumbfounded. _I wish I could have figured out what that meant, _he thought with a bewildered expression.

****

Knuckles stood guard at the Master Emerald, as he had done so many times before. The echidna never questioned why he guarded the gem; he just did. He especially wanted to now, after Rouge had taken an interest in it.

Suddenly, there was a small tremor beneath Knuckles' feet. He looked around a moment before relaxing. The Master Emerald was located on the floating Angel Island. There was likely to be some sort of turbulence sometime, and it was normal to have tiny earthquakes every now and again.

A small glint shone in the corner of the treasure hunter's purple eye. He blinked once and spun around, a little alarmed to discover that the Master Emerald was glowing brighter than ever. He stood back and gasped as a figure suddenly began to generate in front of him. In a mass of brilliant light, the figure formed, revealing the peach colored echidna known as Tikal.

"T-Tikal?!" Knuckles asked, bewildered by her sudden appearance. She had been locked away back into the Master Emerald after Sonic defeated Perfect Chaos. The ancient echidna blinked twice before displaying worried expression.

"Knuckles, we have to make haste," she explained quickly, walking towards him. "There's…another one out there."

Knuckles furrowed his brow. "What do you mean 'another one'?" he demanded. "Another echidna tribe?"

Tikal shook her head fiercely. "Another Chaos creature!" she exclaimed. "Chaos wasn't the only one!"

"Chaos?!" Knuckles growled in confusion. "B-but Chaos was one of a kind! You can't just make a Chaos creature. How could there possibly be another one?"

Tikal frowned and bowed her head, studying her feet. "Chaos wasn't…always a monster," she explained. "He used to be…like us. But before long, he had become overly powered with the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. He used them too much and finally his body couldn't take it. He had turned into the Chaos you know now."

Knuckles stood still for a second, trying to take in all of the echidna's words. "But if that's the case…then every single one of us could turn into monsters. We're all exposed to chaos energy."

"We wouldn't turn into monsters," Tikal contradicted. "We would have to be at least 50 years old, and have pure Chaos energy pumping through our veins. Chaos had been running from our tribe all his life, so whenever he reached the age of 50, he was still very fit and readily able to use chaos energy. Anybody else would have grown too old."

"Then who the heck is over 50 years old and can still use chaos energy?" Knuckles demanded, his brain beginning to overload with all the new information he was taking in.

Tikal sighed and stared straight into her descendant's eyes. "They call him Shadow," she answered. "Have you heard of him?"


	7. Finding Sonic

**Chapter 7, coming at ya!**

**No idea how long I'm going to keep this story up. maybe 10 chapters...? 11?**

* * *

"The test results are back…"

Shadow and Sonic perked up from the table they were sitting on. An hour had passed since they first entered the examining room, and Shadow had many tests that were performed on him. Tails and Eggman had taken samples of Shadow's arm, his brain, and various other parts of him body.

Tails was holding up the papers that the computer spit out, indicating the results of the tests. The fox had perched his goggles atop his head, but he took them off now.

"The reports show that…Shadow, your arm is, as we thought, the same substance Chaos was made of."

"But how do you know?" Sonic pressed. "I mean, it wasn't like Chaos exactly wanted us to take a sample of his material."

Eggman nodded. "True, but I was able to take a sample, since I was the one that was controlling him in the first place."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and THAT turned out splendid."

"Everybody, please," Shadow stated calmly. "Can I at least see a picture of this beast to know exactly what in Maria's name I'm turning into?"

Tails blinked twice. "Sure," he replied, and he took off his lab coat before seating himself in front of a computer. After logging onto an internet browser, the fox navigated to a news station website and started flipping through the archives.

"THIS is Chaos," he said, motioning for Shadow to join him. The black hedgehog obliged and peered onto the monitor, where a news camera crew was airing footage of what had happened to Station Square when Chaos attacked. The entire city was flooded, and in the center of the wreckage, Chaos stood, mighty and proud.

"That thing still creeps me out," Sonic sneered, making fake vomit noise.

Shadow ignored his rival and stared in absolute shock as Chaos destroyed everything in sight. "That…is what I'm turning into?" he gaped in horror.

"Afraid so," Eggman agreed, bowing his head slightly.

"Oh, sweet Maria help me…"

****

Tikal and Knuckles stood at the Master Emerald's shrine, the both of them worried out of their wits. "Chaos was such a dangerous creature…I don't know how we could deal with another one…" Knuckles fretted. "Not to mention we would be losing Shadow…"

"Knuckles, please focus," Tikal urged, snapping him from his thoughts. "We won't have to worry about any of that if we can reverse the process in the first place."

Knuckles nodded. "OK, but how are we going to reverse the process?"

"We would need the Chaos emeralds," Tikal explained. "If we can find Shadow before too much of the transformation has occurred, then we might have a chance to reverse the process using the Chaos Emeralds."

"How?" The red echidna pressed.

Tikal replied, "The Chaos Emeralds have mystical properties that nothing else can match. They can teleport, they can destroy…but, most importantly, they can heal. There's a chance that if we can get all 7 Chaos Emeralds, they can reverse the process with no trouble."

Knuckles opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. "Wait, there's a problem," he said. "I have no idea where Shadow is, and I only have one of the seven Chaos Emeralds."

"Do you know where Sonic is?" the ancient tribe member asked. She smiled sweetly. "Everything always seems to go smoothly whenever Sonic is around."

"Yeah, I know where he's at," Knuckles growled in response. "Him and Tails charged into Eggman's base like idiots, and they didn't come back. I headed back here with Espio to guard the Master Emerald."

Tikal nodded. "OK. Get your Chaos Emerald and hurry. We're going to talk to Sonic."

***

Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Eggman were still in the examining room, deciding exactly what to do with the new troubling developments in Shadow's problem. "So do any of you 'geniuses' know what to do about this?" the black hedgehog growled, flicking his gaze from Tails to Eggman.

Tails was silent for a moment before opening his mouth. "I think that—"

The fox was suddenly interrupted when a siren blasted throughout the building. Eggman clenched his teeth and strode over to the elevator.

Sonic jumped up. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"We have intruders," the doctor replied as the elevator door shut.

***

Tikal stood strong as guard robots started to surround both her and Knuckles. The two had gone to Eggmanland soon after Knuckles retrieved the sole Chaos Emerald he owned, and were determined to find to Sonic and, in turn, find Shadow.

A flying monitor sudden approached the two. Its screen suddenly blinked alive, and Eggman's angry face filled it. "Mind telling me what exactly you're doing here with your little girlfriend, Knucklehead?!" he seethed.

Knuckles clenched his jaw tight but said nothing. Tikal answered for him instead. "Is Sonic still in your base? We need to speak with him; it is urgent. We need to find Shadow Hedgehog as soon as we possibly can."

"Shadow?" Eggman repeated, his gaze softening. "Well, why didn't you say so before? Both him and Sonic is in my tower right now. Come on in and go up to the fifth floor. Shadow is there."

The two echidnas said nothing else as the monitor blinked off and flew away. Tikal turned slightly to face Knuckles. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he said gruffly, and marched past her.


	8. The Hunt Begins

**Hey guys, a little later (and shorter) on this than I meant to be...sorry. Next week is band camp, which only goes on during the morning, but then the NEXT week it's the entire day. Plus I'm working at VBS at night...so I have no idea when I'm going to find time to write. I'll try to update when I can, but the weeks leading up to school (NOOOOOOOO!!!!) are going to be a little hectic.**

* * *

All eyes turned to the elevator door as it opened, revealing Knuckles and Tikal. Sonic, Shadow, Eggman and Tails were all still currently in the examining room, with Shadow looking more stressed out every second.

Sonic raised his eyebrows when he saw Tikal with Knuckles. "Hey, Tikal," he said, smiling slightly and waving. Tikal nodded politely back before stepping forward to join the others.

"It's just as I feared," the ancient echidna said gravely, gently smoothing her hand over Shadow's slimy arm. The black hedgehog laid his ears back.

"Who exactly are you?" he asked.

Tikal stepped back a little. "Oh, forgive me," she said. "My name is Tikal. I live in the Chao Garden with Chaos and my Chao friends; we have lived there inside the Mater Emerald for a long time.

"However, Chaos sensed a disturbance today whenever we were playing with the Chao. It seemed that another is turning into the same creature he turned into long ago, whenever he was still in turmoil. Apparently, that person is you, Shadow."

Shadow frowned. "So it's true…I am turning into another Chaos creature."

"But there's still hope," Knuckles interjected, retrieving the Chaos Emerald from under his glove. "Tikal thinks that if we gather all seven Chaos Emeralds, there might be a way to reverse the process."

"How?" Tails said curiously, speaking for the first time since the two had arrived.

Tikal grabbed the gray Chaos Emerald from Knuckles and held it up to the light. "The Chaos Emeralds have mystical properties; there's no telling what they might do whenever they are gathered together. They had the ability to transform Sonic into a powered-up form, and they helped Chaos see the wrong-doings that he had committed. I hypothesize that there's a chance that they can reverse Shadow's transformation."

Sonic shrugged. "Great plan, but we only have one Chaos Emerald here. What about the other six?"

"We'll just have to hunt them down, right?" Eggman asked, smirking a little. He couldn't resist the opportunity to have all seven powerful gems in the palm of his hand again.

Knuckles sighed and nodded. "I don't really see any other way," he admitted.

"OK!" Sonic cried, surprising everybody. "We can do this, can't we guys? This is Shadow that we're saving here!"

Tails grinned. "I'm going with Sonic on this one." Then the fox frowned. "But there's a problem…we need a tracker to hunt down the remaining emeralds. Maybe a radar?"

All eyes fell on Knuckles, who promptly returned with a bewildered expression. "What?" he asked.

"Please Knuckles, we need your tracking abilities," Tikal pleaded. "You've been around the Master Emerald all your life; you know what energies to search for."

The red echidna sighed. "Fine, fine. But we're going to need to split up if we're going to get anywhere."

"I do still have that emerald radar that I used a while back…" Eggman muttered, causing everyone to look at him expectantly. "Alright. We can use that."

Shadow suddenly stood up, which caused everyone else to perk up in surprise. "I'm helping with this operation," he said firmly. "No buts. I can manage."

Sonic opened his mouth to say something about resting, but his rival gave him the red glare of death. So the hedgehog kept his mouth shut.

"Alright then," Tails started. "We should split up into two teams. Tikal and Knuckles can be one team, and Sonic, Shadow and I can be another. We can have the radar."

"What do you propose I do, fox boy?" the fat doctor asked, crossing his arms.

The twin-tailed fox turned to face him. "You should probably stay here and keep in touch with us in case we run into trouble. I assume you have tracking microchips, GPS, that sort of thing?"

Eggman grinned evilly. "You assumed right."

Sonic smirked. "OK, then. We should get off right away." He turned to Shadow. "Sure you're up for it?"

Shadow frowned for a moment, lost in thought. _Am I…?_ Then he brushed the thought off and stood up straighter. "Of course, blue hedgehog."

"Then let's go!"


	9. The First Three

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! Did you miss me?**

**I told you updates were going to go slow. I have a thing called Band Camp, and it lasts all next week too. And then the week after that is the absolutely dreaded S-word...no, I'm not going to say it. Crazies.**

**Enjoy chapter 9! Review?**

* * *

"Come in. Can you hear me?"

Sonic grabbed the walkie-talkie at his waist and spoke into it. "Loud and clear, doc. We already picked up a signal."

Sonic, Shadow and Tails were up in the air at the moment. Tails was flying the Tornado 2, with Sonic standing on the wings. Shadow, due to the added weight of his arm, was forced to sit in the back. Otherwise the plane would spiral out of control.

Dr. Eggman was on the other end of the walkie-talkie. "OK, good. It looks like you're getting close to the Mystic Ruins. Stay alert."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Sonic said in a dismissing voice, replacing the walkie-talkie on his waist.

Tails clutched the emerald radar in one hand and steered the Tornado 2 with the other. "I'm going down for a landing, guys," he called. "Look alive, Sonic. It might be bumpy."

Shadow sighed looked towards the ground. Underneath the plane was a dark, murky jungle that had a river flowing through it. The black hedgehog raised an eyebrow. Was it really safe to go down there?

"Tails, are you sure it's safe to go down there?" Shadow repeated his thoughts aloud. Tails glanced back at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's fine. Me and Sonic used to emerald hunt here all the time; I'm not surprised to see an emerald down there."

Sonic gave an ecstatic smile as the plane came in for a landing. He braced himself against the turbulence before bouncing around on the wings as the wheels glided over small rocks.

The two passengers hopped out of the plane as Sonic leapt up, spun into a ball before gracefully landing on his feet.

"Is that amusing, blue hedgehog?" Shadow asked, giving a bored expression. "Or can we actually start looking for the Chaos Emerald?"

"You're no fun," Sonic replied, playfully slapping his rival on his squishy new arm.

Tails took the lead with the emerald radar as the two hedgehogs followed him. "We're getting closer," he said after a few minutes, grinning slightly. "In fact, the emerald is really close now…be on the lookout, guys."

Sonic and Tails began searching all over the trees as Shadow sighed and flopped down. This arm was heavier than he imagined. He didn't know how he was going to run if his whole body turned into the liquid goo.

Suddenly, he put his hand down on the ground, only to jerk it back. Something sharp had poked him. "For the love of…" Shadow muttered, before widening his gaze to see the tip of a red Chaos Emerald poking out of the ground.

"Hey, guys."

Sonic and Tails turned around, a bit tired from their search, to see Shadow holding up the Chaos Emerald casually.

"Can we continue?"

***

Tikal and Knuckles were in Windy Valley. Knuckles' natural emerald radar had picked up signals from the wind-worn plateau, so the two echidnas began their search there.

Knuckles braced himself against the wind and clenched his teeth together. "The signal is getting a little bit stronger!" he called to Tikal, who was gripping onto his arm.

Her beige dreadlocks whipped around her face, stinging her eyes. "Good!" she yelled back. "I want to get out of here as fast as possible!"

Suddenly, something shiny caught Tikal's eye. She gazed upwards and saw that the purple emerald was floating directly towards the giant tornado that fueled all the winds in Windy Valley! "Knuckles!" she cried, causing him to jump. "There's the emerald! Up there!"

Purple met purple, and in an instant Knuckles was in the air. Tikal nearly blew away without the support of her friend, but she managed to hang onto the ground.

Knuckles found it very hard to glide whenever the wind was trying to suck him into the vortex. Flaring his dreadlocks and picking up as much speed as he could, Knuckles was finally able to grab the violet colored gem. He grinned for a moment, only to realize that he was being sucked into the vortex as well.

"Hold on!" Tikal screamed, and climbed onto a nearby rickety gate. Taking a deep breath, she leapt up and started gliding as well. _I haven't done this in a while, _she thought as she got closer and closer to Knuckles.

Just as the red echidna was about to be sucked into the tornado, Tikal grabbed onto him. The added weight sent the two plummeting towards the ground. Knuckles landed first, with Tikal falling on top of him.

"You're a nice landing pad," she joked, getting up. Knuckles rolled his eyes and got up as well, still gripping the emerald.

"Just a few more to go," he smiled.

***

Back in Eggmanland, Eggman cackled evilly as he monitored the two group's progress. "Those idiots," he chuckled, "They're all working for me now! Soon I'll have all seven Chaos Emeralds, and there will be nothing they can do to stop me!"


	10. Chaos

**A/N: This should've been up ages ago. However, was being mean and not letting me log in. Sorry about that.**

**This story should be finished up within 1-2 chapters! Sorry this one is rather short. But we're zooming right along here.**

**Review? Please??**

* * *

Espio was meditating.

He wasn't just meditating in his usual place inside the Chaotix Detective Agency. He was meditating on the altar next to the Master Emerald. Knuckles had left on a short and sudden notice, leaving the gem unoccupied.

The chameleon decided to help his friend out…just this once. He owed him a favor anyway.

Suddenly, Espio's yellow eyes flipped open and he leapt up at once, using his stealthy ninja moves. The entire Angel Island began to shake without warning, as it had done once before today. The lilac ninja landed atop the Emerald, ready to protect it from harm.

However, it seemed the source of the earthquake was coming from within the jewel. Espio cringed and finally fell off as the Master Emerald shook violently. Finally, a giant light exploded from within, and a figure appeared before him.

"Name yourself at once!" Espio demanded, getting into a defensive position.

The figure finally revealed himself as the light dissipated. He was a light blue hedgehog that looked somewhat similar to Sonic, except he wore different shoes. His eyes were green like the famous speedster, but unlike Sonic, he was a lighter blue with striking white highlights on spines.

The hedgehog blinked twice before resting his gaze on Espio. "Greetings," he said in a calm voice. "I hope I didn't startle you."

"Who are you?" Espio asked, a little bewildered.

"Oh, forgive me." The hedgehog smiled. "My name is Chaos. Maybe you would recognize me in my…other form?"

Espio was beyond confused now. The only Chaos he had ever heard of was the water creature. So why was this hedgehog claiming to be him? "You mean…you were the Chaos creature?"

Chaos nodded. "Yes. That was me after my…transformation. If you would please lead me to the hedgehog that is currently undergoing the same transformation that I am, then I would be very, very grateful."

The chameleon stuck up an eyebrow. "And how exactly should I know I can trust you?"

"I'm desperate," Chaos replied in a serious tone. "I don't want any other individual to go through what I did."

Espio studied Chaos' deep green eyes a moment more before finally nodding. "You sound sincere," he admitted. "Knuckles went to Eggmanland to find Sonic, and if Sonic is there, Shadow probably is too. I'll lead you there."

Chaos frowned, but seemed a little more relaxed. "Thank you," he said politely before the chameleon swiftly spun around and started in the direction of Eggman's base.

***

"Knuckles! Come in, bud!"

Knuckles' microphone headset went crazy as Sonic boomed into his own. "Keep it down!" the echidna retorted, clutching his ear.

Sonic, on the other hand, was riding atop the Tornado 2. He cringed against the wind as he called again into his microphone, signaling Knuckles. "Sorry, I can barely hear a word you're saying!" he exclaimed. "Me, Tails and Shad found 2 more emeralds! How about you?!"

"Me and Tikal found 2 more! Isn't that seven?" Knuckles replied loudly, causing some birds to flutter away in the jungle he was in.

Sonic did the math in his head. They started with one, then each group found one, which added up to 3. Then he, Tails and Shadow found two more, and if Knuckles and Tikal found two more…that was seven.

"We've got 'em all, Knux! Head back to Eggman's little rat hole and we can finally heal Shadow."

Knuckles cringed as his microphone fizzled out. The red echidna turned his head to Tikal, who was standing near him. "We've found all of the emeralds, Tikal. We need to get back to Eggmanland."

The ancient tribal member blinked in agreement. "I hope we can make it in time…" she muttered before racing off after Knuckles.


	11. The Power Within

**A/N: Hey, guys! This is the last chapter of Flip Side. Hooray!**

**So, so, SO sorry for the mix up with chapter 10. I've done that once before...and I feel so embarrassed! X(**

**In any case, please enjoy the last chapter!**

* * *

Sonic strode casually into Eggmanland's main tower, with Tails and Shadow trailing him. He had spotted Tikal and Knuckles coming in for a landing shortly after they arrived in the dark city, so he walked into the massive tower without hesitation.

"Honey, we're home!" he sang in a cocky voice, racing over to punch the elevator button so he could head to the top floor, where Eggman was likely at. Meanwhile, Tails supported Shadow on his shoulder. The black hedgehog was finding it difficult to move, and, much to his horror, the goopy-like substance had begun eating away at his shoulder and was spreading to his breast and neck.

"You OK, Shadow?" Tails asked. Shadow wordlessly nodded and looked up to gaze at Sonic.

As the blue hedgehog was waiting for the elevator, he saw a shadow run across the room from the corner of his eyes. Alarmed, he spun around in the direction of the shadow and saw that it was in fact Eggman.

"Hey, Egghead," Sonic joked. Tails and Shadow stepped out of the way as Tikal and Knuckles entered the door behind them.

Eggman had a wide smile planted on his face when he saw 3 emeralds in Sonic's arms. "Excellent…and I presume 4 more are with Knuckles and Tikal…?"

"Yeah," Knuckles said, grabbing the genius' attention. Each echidna held two emeralds in their arms.

"Excellent…"

Tails frowned whenever he saw Eggman's expression. "Hey…what's going on, Eggman? What's with the face?"

The doctor suddenly burst out into an evil cackle before 8 robots rushed in and grabbed everyone else in the room, causing them to drop their emeralds.

"Idiots!" Eggman spat. "You honestly think I want to heal Shadow of this disease?! I was able to control Chaos, and I'll be able to control Shadow as well! You fools think you can stop me?"

Sonic growled as he squirmed under the robot's grip. "You're wrong! You couldn't control Chaos, he turned on you at the end!"

Eggman snickered. "Oh, did he?" he asked, and, as if on cue, two robots came out from the shadows and dumped the tied up figures of Chaos and Espio on the floor. Espio grunted and squinted up at all his friends.

"Shadow…" he breathed weakly. "Listen…you don't…" but before he could finish the sentence, the chameleon passed out.

"What? Don't what?!" Shadow demanded desperately. "Who's with you? Sonic, do you know him?"

Sonic was about to shake his head when Tikal gasped. "Ch-Chaos?!" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The white and blue hedgehog lifted his head weakly and smiled. "Tikal!" he said in a relieved tone. "Thank goodness I found you! I wasn't able to tell you how to reverse the process before you left…"

"You mean mine?" Shadow said. "You know how? Were…were you the Chaos creature?"

"Enough!" Eggman pressed a button on a remote control which ordered the robots to squeeze tighter on the heroes. The fat scientist bent down to pick up the fallen emeralds. "Look, all I have to do is keep you little fools here until Shadow fully transforms! And when that happens, all I have to do is feed him the Chaos Emeralds and I'll create another Perfect Chaos!"

"…no…"

Shadow lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly. He had to focus! He could get out of here. Gathering all the chaos energy running through his veins, although it burned his tentacle like crazy, the black hedgehog started glowing.

Chaos smirked. "Keep going Shadow! You can do this!"

With all his might, Shadow's arms began glowing a greenish-purple color. Finally, with one last push, the two robots holding onto him exploded. Shadow landed on the ground neatly before standing up tall.

Much to his surprise and Chaos' delight, his arm had all but returned to normal. He had an arm again, but it was still glowing green. "So, that's what Espio was trying to tell me," he smirked. "I didn't need the Chaos Emeralds to reverse the process. I just needed the power inside me!"

Then, with all his anger directed towards, Eggman, Shadow leapt up into a ball and charged into the villain, sending him flying. With the Chaos Emeralds scattered on the ground again, he felt them float around his body and super charge him.

Sonic's emerald eyes glowed. "Looks like he gets to have all the fun on my birthday."

Within seconds, Shadow had transformed into Hyper Shadow. All the robots around him disintegrate by the sheer power that was built up inside the hedgehog. Finally, with one last blast, Hyper Shadow blasted a hole in the wall where Eggman should have been.

Instead, the doctor decided to retreat up the elevator.

Shadow was about to chase him when Sonic called after him. "Wait, Shadow!" he called, running up to his rival.

"Let it go. We'll get him next time."

Shadow sighed and slowly began to revert back to his normal state. Tails, Knuckles, Tikal and Chaos all gathered around him, smiling.

"So…that had to be the weirdest birthday I've ever had," Sonic joked with a playful smile. Chaos grinned back.

"I still remember what you did for me that day, when I was still a monster," he said. "And I thank you. Now Tikal and I can live in peace with the Chao in the Chao garden."

Shadow looked down at his gloved hands, grateful he had them again. "Well, it looks like Professor Gerald meant for me to be a weapon," he sighed. "It seems I've found my true purpose."

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Sonic's face. "Even if that's what you were built to be, you're not a weapon, Shad," he replied. "You're just…you. Live life like you mean it."

Tails checked his watch and noticed for the first time how late it was. "Whoa…Sonic, we'd better get home. It's getting pretty late."

Knuckles picked the still-passed out Espio off the ground. "I think we had better go back to the Angel Island, so we can get Espio back home," he agreed.

Shadow was still facing the elevator where Eggman had escaped. Sonic dared a peek back at him, and smiled. "Happy birthday, faker," he said before walking back home.

Later that night, Shadow was seated on top of one of Eggmanland's buildings. He watched the moon with his crimson eyes.

_It's official. I hate birthdays. _He thought with a sigh.

Then, looking down at his glove, he noticed a piece of paper sticking out of it. Curious, he pulled it out and read the sloppy handwriting scrawled across it in a hurry.

_You're invited to…_

_Sonic Hedgehog's 19__th__ birthday!_

_June 23__rd__, 2010._

_Location and Time TBA_

Then, at the very bottom in a personal note, it read:

_Hey, faker. I'm giving you this invitation a year in advanced._

_Why don't you show up?_

_Sonic_

Shadow smirked and tucked the paper back in his glove.

* * *

**So, not too terrible for a story written on a whim, right? Please review and give me your final thoughts!**


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